Following recent calls from Jamaican politicians and businesses for the local ginger industry to re-discover its former glory, the US ambassador to Jamaica has now added her voice in support. Speaking to the Portland (Jamaica) Chamber of Commerce, Pamela Bridgewater urged Jamaica's ginger producers and exporters to take full advantage of the USA's duty-free import program under both the Caribbean Basin Initiative and the Generalised System of Preferences. The ambassador's speech, reported in The Gleaner, also called for investors to support ginger farmers as the ginger "is of the highest quality in terms of its benefit to individuals, its taste, flavour, and its properties". Jamaican ginger was very popular in the US for much of the last century.
This week's mention of Crabbie's isn't going to be about Crabbie's itself. Marketing Magazine reported that Diageo has relaunched its ginger-flavoured Jeremiah Weed Root Brew to compete with the hugely successful Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer. Previously launched late last year in the UK with little fanfare, the 4pc abv bottled beer is said to be best served in a jam (or mason) jar over ice. I can't see that serving suggestion really catching on here in the UK as British drinkers prefer not to dilute their alcohol. It is made from ginger, fruit alcohol, spirit & flavours. Sounds interesting.
Ginger growers everywhere will be keeping a close watch on developments in Nigeria, the third largest exporter of ginger after China and India. The country has been hit by a general strike called by trade unions protesting against the removal of petrol subsidies which has led to a doubling of pump prices. According to agra-net.com, one area particularly badly affected is the export of dried ginger. An inability to export could result in a world shortage of dried ginger which, in turn, would increase the price. An increased price would be of immense benefit to growers in countries such as India who have witnessed a drop in income over the last year.
The potential damage caused by the Nigerian general strike on the ginger industry could be more than just a hiccup. A article last month in Nigerian Best Forum seems to indicate that the ginger industry in the state of Kaduna, Nigeria's ginger heartland, is in a parlous condition following decades of neglect.
Employment opportunities in the ginger industry featured a couple of times last week. The first was the news, reported by The Fiji Times, that Fiji's largest ginger processing company, Frespac, is looking to recruit more ginger farmers to help it meet this year's export commitments. Frespac, a subsidiary of Australia's Buderim Ginger, is targeting the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
This was followed by the Jamaica Observer story that the recently elected Jamaican government is looking to agriculture to create employment. Ian Hayles, Junior Agriculture and Fisheries minister, said that a number of crops, including ginger, will be given priority attention to attract young people into farming. With Jamaica's desire to become self-sufficient in food and the call to export more ginger to the US, a career in ginger farming seems very attractive.
Today sees the launch of a gelatin-free ginger confection at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, California. Ginger Spice Drops have been developed by The Ginger People, America's leading ginger company.
Produce News Daily carried an interesting article on the forthcoming Chinese New Year celebrations and how it is raising interest in Asian cuisine. The article also mentioned that the current Hawaiian ginger crop grown by California-based Christopher Ranch "is looking good". I'm not sure whether Christopher Ranch grows ginger in California but I can see why the company has a presence in Hawaii. Hawaiian ginger has a long harvesting season from December to June. In Hawaii's off-season, ginger is imported from Brazil, Thailand, Costa Rica and Peru. Back in 2007 the company had a problem with Chinese grown ginger containing pesticide residues. Maybe that is the reason why China is now missing from the list of Christopher Ranch's suppliers.
It may sound perverse but I'm sure that there is a good reason for it. Hawaii exports much of its ginger crop to the US but then has to import replacement ginger from Fiji. Discuss.
Over to Toronto in Canada now and an unusual story of rappers and ginger ale. The Star reported a feud between two North American rappers by the name of Drake and Common (I've no idea who they are either). Apparently Common calls Drake "you Canada Dry" on one of his songs, presumably in reference to Drake's penchant for the drink. This reached the Twittersphere like everything else does these days and before long Canada Dry Ginger Ale started trending. It would be interesting to know whether the brand registered a noticeable increase in sales in Canada last week.
I've found the link to last week's report on McCormick's global Flavour Forecast for 2012. I still don't know why it disappeared.
The Bangkok Post business section reported on a call by the honorary chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries' pharmaceutical industry club to reduce the cost of the country's medicine imports. Chernporn Tengamnuay said that by developing a herbal industry would both reduce import costs and create employment in the cultivation sector. He said that over 90pc of the raw materials for Thai medicines are imported. Ginger is now undergoing clinical trials to determine its efficacy in easing joint pain. Thailand already has the advantage of being an established ginger producer.
The problems caused by falling ginger prices in India was highlighted in The Hindu Business Line which showed that the current ginger index (the Indians have a useful index for many crops) is not only lower than a year ago, it is also much lower than 2004-5.
We don't often read about ginger in crime (apart from the occasional pesticide incident) but I found one last week in the Waukesha Patch. The Wisconsin city reported that two drug addicts tried to sell fake marijuana to a police informant in order to feed their heroin habits. The fake marijuana was actually a mixture of ginger and leaves which the addicts hoped the informant would only feel and not see.
A new entry for my list of ginger growing countries - Israel (courtesy of Tekoa Farm).
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